For my second kayak trip my friend and I decided to do a river run. After spending hours reviewing maps and websites we selected our point 'A' and point 'B', a 12 mile trek. At first I thought we were underestimating how far we could paddle... at first. Before we began we scarfed down some subway sandwiches and threw our kayaks into the water. The boat ramp is right next to a nice covered bridge. A few minutes later we see a small fawn grabbing a nice drink and a few white headed wild turkeys just hanging out. They didn't seem even remotely bothered by our close proximity. Not wanting to spook them I kept my camera tucked away in the dry bag. For a large part of the trip a couple large blue heron flew ahead of us. Already I am having a lot more fun than just cutting across a large lake.
The river wasn't moving very quickly and sometimes it didn't move at all. I pulled my gps out and tested to see how fast we could paddle. I got up to about 5mph before getting a little tippy. Right away it looked like we would be averaging 2 mph. What I thought would be a 3-4 hour journey is looking like 6 hours now! Also we realized that 0% chance of rain means intermittent light rain throughout the day. We had to seek shelter under some trees a few times.
As we paddled around a bend we saw a train bridge. I sat still and took some pictures. I asked Ryan what the odds are that the bridge is still used and a train would pass out here in the middle of nowhere. Seconds later a horn blew and a train comes flying out of nowhere. We sat and watched it pass as it shook the ground, river and kayaks we were sitting in.
After a few hours I was completely exhausted and asked if we could stop. We ran ashore and took a break. My gps batteries had died and I had no idea how far along we had traveled. I was hoping we were near the end...but I would find out a few more miles were left to travel. Also, we are getting very very hungry. Evidently several hours of kayaking burns a couple thousand calories. We decide to devour many pizzas on our return home.
Here is a nice sandbar where we took yet another break. The rain clouds started rolling by again creating a surreal scene. As the river opened up to this spot we were able to see a dozen or so large white cranes also taking a break. Unfortunately we were not able to join them without spooking them.
We were able to stand up and stretch our legs a bit and take some more pics. It was gloooorious!
Just as I was doing this a bald eagle flew over our heads. We sat down on our kayaks and ate the only food we had... I had a tiny breakfast cereal bar.
If I were in much better shape I wouldn't have a single complaint about the trip. There were many times I felt as if I wasn't in Indiana any longer. There were great views and encounters to wildlife I don't usually get an opportunity to see up close. As for the pizzas, I ate an entire hand tossed pizza, 32 oz of gaterade and some other snacks leaving me still hungry. A huge workout but definately worth it! We look forward to exploring other sections of this river later.
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